Traditionally, a retail customer comes to a retailer or store, e.g., a Wal-Mart store or Sam's Club, for conducting a transaction, e.g., purchasing a toy, or purchasing a service such as an automobile maintenance service. For this kind of traditional retail transactions, the customer may need to pay for each transaction separately with money or money equivalents, e.g., credit using a credit card. For example, the customer may enter a superstore, e.g., a Sam's Club with multiple objectives. He may want to purchase auto tires and have them installed in the onsite garage and during the same time, to purchase other items from the store. To achieve his objectives, the customer may need to conduct two separate transactions, each of which is not associated with the other. The customer leaving his automobile in the garage while shopping for other items may not know the progress of his automobile service. Correspondingly, the store may not have effective means to inform the customer of the progress of his automobile service.
Additionally, the customer for his transactions may need to bring different types of identifications, money or money equivalents, or even discount coupons to the store. For example, the customer may need to bring a club membership card for entering a membership store like Sam's Club, money or credit card for paying for purchased items, and coupons for receiving discounts at purchase. Further, the customer may need to keep receipts for checking out of a membership store. The customer may also need to keep the receipts for future transactions with the store, e.g., return, refund, or servicing a purchased item under warranties by the store. The customer may be responsible for remembering future service dates of a purchased item as well. All these nuances associated with transactions at a store may be burdensome to the customer.
Internet shopping may provide a customer with limited customized shopping experience. For example, a website selling books may make recommendations to the customer based on his past purchases. However, Internet shopping may not replace retail transactions at a retailer or store. For example, to replace automobile tires, the customer needs to bring the car to a garage. For certain type of shopping, e.g., perishable groceries, a customer may prefer to physically inspect the quality of the grocery before making a purchase decision.